Jazeera Airways- HORRIBLE!!!

DON'T FLY WITH THEM!!!

They are a local airline & they do not function in professionalism and fairness like the major
Airlines do.

Jazeera had the cheapest ticket prices. So we booked a flight to Beirut, Lebanon for 9am today.

Well, as you can see, I'm writing a blog about it so I'm not on that airplane!

For starters, Jazeera books "round trip" tickets as two separate one way tickets.
I've flown other major airlines & never read that a round trip ticket is actually two separate one way tickets. From THAT piece of information, I got a bad feeling about this airline.

Secondly, they state that if you cancel your ticket or miss your flight, you're $h!t out of luck and you will NOT be refunded.

Thirdly, they have food on board- but you only eat if you pay. Food & Beverages are purchased & not included in the fare. Lame! It wasn't the case with Kuwaiti Airlines!

Fourth, "their rules are black & white. If you're there 44 minutes until the flight takes off you're out of your money."

Fifth, their policy is, "Why should we care if a customer missed their fight? Why would we give their money back or another ticket for free?"

What I Failed to read, was their specific "rule" that you must check in no later than 45 minutes before departure.

So here is where my story begins.

I worked last night. My hours were from 1500-0600 (5pm-6am). My booked flight was scheduled to leave at 0900. I got home at 6:35am and took a cab at 7:15 to the Kuwait International Airport- which is only a 20 minute drive.

Except that it took an HOUR to get to the airport because of all the traffic and boneheaded drivers who turn one lane into 3, pushing their way through.

I made it to the check in line by 8:15. As I was in line, the call for final boarding for MY FLIGHT was being called. By 8:20 we reached the counter. Then they tell us that we were supposed to check in 45 mins before & that now our tickets are forfeited! In shock I start complaining. I asked if there were any other flights. There were none until tomorrow. But even if there WAS another flight, I would have to Buy a whole other ticket!!!

So we go to the Jazeera ticket counter and again, complain. They confirmed that we would have to purchase another, separate ticket and that my money would not be refunded bc of "their rules."
So we demand to speak to the manager. They tell us we have to go to the main office outside the airport near by.

So we ask around where this office is and some Arab cab driver decides to help by taking us. The office was within the main airport range, close enough to walk a good 20 mins but having no clue where it was we took a cab. Upon getting there the freakin cab driver charges us 5KD!!! (Westerners keep in mind that 1KD = 3.54 KD, that's almost $20) For a ride from the arrivals section to the airline office! We gave him a KD and a half, but that ride should have been free. I paid 7KD just to get from my city, Salmiya, to the airport- and this dude is asking 5kd for a stroll up through parking lots???

So we meet with a customer service rep, blow steam and make sure she knows that the company is unprofessional with ridiculous, unfair policies, & that we were there within time waiting in line. I even called them THIEVES! No refunds, no credit voucher, & no alternative flight was offered. We bitched some more & then she gave us an open ticket.

An open ticket is our purchased ticket, same patron only, that allows us to use this ticket to go anywhere, for the same price as the ticket I purchased, only paying the difference if there is one. It's good for a month.

That pretty much contented both my boyfriend & I. But here we are with 3 days off from work, bummed b/c we were really excited about going to Lebanon.

So I came up with a bright idea. We bought tickets from another airline, KUWAITI AIRLINES, which I've favored since flying to Dubai with them, and we are waiting to board for a flight that leaves at 1615 (4:15pm). And next weekend? We'll use the 'open ticket' to go to Egypt or Jordan. If I figure out some way to be able to get into Israel, that's where we would go. BUT, getting into Israel after being in Kuwait is not an easy task.

ANYWAY- DON'T FLY WITH JAZEERA AIRWAYS!

Merry Christmas & best wishes for a great new year!

And I'll post about my trip to Lebanon soon. So far, it's 12:21pm and we've been at the airport since 8:05am. We are exhausted b/c we've been up since 2pm YESTERDAY for work!